WORLD BRIEFING | EUROPE; Russia: No Extradition For Poison Suspect

By C. J. CHIVERS

Published: July 6, 2007

The prosecutor general formally notified British prosecutors that Russia would not extradite the former K.G.B. officer Andrei K. Lugovoi, left, to stand trial on the murder charge he faces in Britain, Interfax reported. Mr. Lugovoi is accused in the death of Alexander V. Litvinenko, a former Russian intelligence officer turned Kremlin critic who was fatally poisoned by polonium 210, a rare radioactive isotope, last year. Russia has said its Constitution bars handing Russian citizens over to other nations and has offered to consider prosecuting Mr. Lugovoi in Russia.